


The Jaws of Fear

by The_Uninspired



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Jedi Initiates, Byph is my brave son and he deserves so much more, Gen, Jedi Temple (Star Wars), March on the Jedi Temple, Order 66 (Star Wars), Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27700304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Uninspired/pseuds/The_Uninspired
Summary: Byph does not hide, though he knows where he would. And he does not run, though he knows how he could.Byph is not just Byph.Byph is a jedi.(Initiate Byph during Order 66)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	The Jaws of Fear

The Temple is older than Master Yoda, and full of just as many surprises. Not even Yoda could know them all.

Initiate Byph, despite his age, knows more than his fair share.

Byph knows that some of the walls are hollow, carved through with winding crawl spaces that start and stop and double back on themselves. And Byph know that, though the spaces might appear to be accidental and ultimately useless, they create a Temple-spanning maze of secret passages and hiding spaces that make it possible to exit the Temple discretely from a number of major gathering halls.

Byph knows that in certain hallways, the placement of load-bearing pillars aligns with the construction so as to create useless corner-spaces, small gaps between stone and wall that are impossible to look into without walking right up to them and staring in- and Byph knows that no one ever does, because from any angle but the perfect one, it appears that there is no space between pillar and wall at all.

Byph does not know every shortcut in the Temple, and he doubts anyone ever could. But he knows his fair share, especially of those surrounding the creche and initiate quarters. He knows which doors resemble office doors, but in fact open into the back of communal gardens, and he knows which doors resemble public entrances but in fact open into private offices. He knows which halls stop at the end, and which circle around to where they began, and which branch off to connect to other wings of the Temple.

Byph knows how to run, and how to hide. He has always been cautious, perhaps. A _coward_ , perhaps. And he has been trying to work on this, trying to be braver and stronger than he fears he is, trying to prove worthy of the kyber crystal that chose him on Ilum. But Byph knows who he is, and he has never been Katooni or Petro. He has never been one to fight. No, Byph is one to run, to hide, to _wait_. Patience is one Jedi virtue Byph has never struggled with. And over his years of life, Byph has become more familiar with places to hide and paths to run than he thinks any initiate might ever have been. Byph knows that, if he wanted to, he could find a place to hide where no one would ever, ever find him, and he could find a way to run where no one would ever, ever follow him.

But Byph knows more than simply the _best_ places to hide.

Byph knows the bad ones too.

Byph knows where other people would hide, and Byph knows where other people would _look_.

And furthermore, Byph knows who and what he is.

Byph knows that he is a jedi.

So Byph does not hide, though he knows where he would. And he does not run, though he knows how he could.

Shaking, whimpering, flinching with each not-so-distant blaster shot, Byph sprints to the Initiate Hall, where the younger children are taught to hide in an emergency. He does not stop, or even slow down, at the sight of the large emergency doors that have locked the hall down. It’s standard procedure to trigger the lockdown from the inside, and he trusts at least some of the other initiates to keep a cool enough head to follow procedure. Byph knew the hall would be locked down, just as he knew that it wouldn’t matter. Byph knows three ways past those heavy blast-proof doors.

Byph enters from a back maintenance passageway, pausing only long enough to focus his mind for the Force control required. This flaw in the room’s defenses is accessible only by unlatching a one-way lock that locks from the inside- a physical mechanism not unlike the Force-manipulation puzzle toys that litter the creche. Byph suspects the masters knew of this weakness, perhaps even planned for it, so that a knight could sneak in to check on any hiding initiates. For a thousand years the Jedi had been at peace with every other Force tradition in the galaxy. And then… well, by the time that peace was over, Byph supposes, nobody but him even remembered this path existed.

Byph emerges to a chorus of shrieks and no less than five lightsabers aimed at his head. With a shriek of his own Byph raises his empty hands and scrambles back against the wall.

“I’m here to help!” He cries. “I’m an initiate too!”

He looks across the crowd, recognizing all the faces as acquaintances but none as friends. None of his clan is here. Byph hadn’t thought they would be- older initiates don’t spend as much time in this area of the Temple as the younger initiates do. But there are seven initiates here who have been to Ilum and built lightsabers, representing three different clans, and Byph finds it even harder now, almost impossible, not to agonize over where the rest of his clan is.

“How’d you get in? This hall is in lockdown!” One of the older initiates demands, still waving her lightsaber in his direction. It’s Yolandi, the nautolan that Petro always tried to duel in saber class. He isn’t surprised to see her this way, standing protectively in front of all the rest.

Byph gestures behind himself. “An old secret door.”

“That doesn’t make sense!” Another initiate cries. “Why put a _penetrable_ door in a saferoom?!”

“Only Force-users can open it.” Byph explains. “It’s-”

An explosion booms and the ground shakes, and Byph cuts off as he flinches violently.

“We have to hide.” Byph says urgently.

“What do you mean?” Yolandi asks. “We’re in the saferoom. Nothing can get in here.”

Byph again waves a hand towards the door he’d just broken through, and she frowns.

“Okay. Okay, yeah. Good point.” She says. She swallows nervously, and behind her a good portion of the initiates begin to shuffle and murmur. There must be thirty of them here at least, most of them only just old enough to start taking philosophy classes, and they look between Yolandi and Byph with wide eyes.

“Okay.” Yolandi says again, like it’s a grounding mantra. “Okay. Okay. If they can get in here, then we need to hide.”

Byph nods.

“Everybody find a place to hide, okay?” Yolandi barks, turning to look across the nervous crowd. “Just in case they breach the doors, okay?”

Byph watches them. Some of the children scramble immediately, in ones and clasped-hand twos, seeking the quickest cover they can. The rest are slower, but not with heavy thought- they hesitate uncertain and fearful. They look to Yolandi desperately, like they hope she’s joking.

“Just hide, okay?” Yolandi snaps. “We need to-”

Another explosion, near enough to rattle the light fixtures, and a handful of initiates yelp.

“Now!” Yolandi shouts.

“No.” Byph says. “Wait.”

“Byph, they’re _almost here!_ ” Yolandi cries, finally pocketing her lightsaber so she can grab his hands in her own.

“Everyone who already hid will be found and killed.” Byph says.

There is stunned silence. Yolandi’s hands start to shake.

“Wh-what did you say?” She stammers.

“I got into this room. So will they.” Byph says. He is shaking too, and he wants to stammer, but he forces himself not to. He has survived murderous pirates in the terrifying reaches of space. He can survive in his own home. “They will find you all and kill you.”

“So what, we just let them kill us?!” Yolandi cries.

“No. We hide. But not there, or there, or there.” Byph points a finger to the place of every initiate he watched dive for cover, then to all the other obvious hiding spots for good measure. He breaths slowly to keep his shivering under control. “All of those places are obvious, and they will look there.”

There is a stricken, quivering look on some of the initiates’ faces- initiates who had no doubt been eying the spots Byph pointed out.

“What- what do you know?” Yolandi accuses anxiously. “Maybe it would work, okay? Maybe they won’t find us. Or- or- maybe they won’t find all of us, okay? Maybe- maybe-”

Yolandi stops herself. She tilts her head back and looks up to the false-sky ceiling that now shows the stars over Coruscant. Her chest moves in a familiar rhythm and Byph recognizes her go through a brief initiate’s breathing exercise.

“Okay, okay, okay,” She murmurs to herself. Then she pulls up her shoulders and turns back to Byph. “Okay. Come back everyone! Initiate Byph is going to show us where to hide in case the doors are breached.”

The hiding initiates stumble out and return to their huddle, and Yolandi steps back to meet them, so that it’s Byph now standing at the head of the group.

“Where should we hide?” Yolandi asks him.

Rather than explain it, Byph turns and shows them.

First, Byph cracks open the door he’d come in through, just a little. Then he walks to the far end of the hall and pulls aside a decorative rug to reveal a small steel grate, which he also unlatches and cracks open.

“I had no idea there was drainage in here.” Yolandi says in wonder. “We can hide in the water system!”

Byph shakes his head. “No. But they might think we did.”

He pulls the rug back over the unlocked grate most of the way, as far as a hand from beneath could have pulled it back over. He is glad that there are other ways out of here. He hopes he never again has to hide beneath the floors, gazing up through shafts of light in the horrible certainty of being caught. He would if he had to, but he doesn’t this time, and there is some speck of relief in that, even in this crisis.

Finally, Byph turns and leads the crowd to the actual hiding space.

This hall, like so many others, has access to the unintuitive hidden tunnel system in the Temple. It isn’t a very useful access point, in Byph’s opinion, since this portion of crawlspace doesn’t link up to the majority of the other internal pathways and, most relevant now, doesn’t have any exit outside of the Temple. This is no direct escape route. But it is somewhere to hide that Byph is fairly confident no one else would find, and it should be large enough for all of them.

The tunnel entrance is hidden behind an array of sculptures made by ancient Jedi children, and is only just large enough for Byph to fit through. That’s another count against this particular access point- Byph knows he will soon grow out of it. But it is perfect now, so perfect Byph can’t help but wonder if it is here for this exact purpose.

“Crawl in here.” Byph pulls back the curtain and points to the small hole, well disguised by the organic texture and blended colors of the wall. “There is a long path. You will have to crawl, but I don’t think they will find you.”

Yolandi was not the only one to glance nervously at the entrance.

“What if we get stuck in there?” She asks.

“You won’t. There’s several exits into the gardens, and the tunnel never gets too tight.” Byph says, forcing himself to sound more confident than he feels, because while he’s afraid, he knows he’s telling the truth.

They all flinch together as another blast sounds, so close it must be almost upon them.

“Okay.” Yolandi says. “Okay! Everyone, do what Byph said. Byph, you should go first.”

Byph nods. “It’s dark, so follow closely. We should stay together.”

Then Byph gets down on his knees and squeezes himself into the crawlspace.

The soft smell of aging construction and stale air hits him, and it’s so synonymous with comfort and safety that for a moment, Byph forgets where he is and why. Then he hears the distant echo of blaster fire, and nearly bangs his elbows on the walls as he recoils.

“Follow me. Be quiet.” Byph says. Then, slowly, he starts to crawl.

It takes an age, it feels, for every initiate to follow him into the tunnel. It’s hard to keep track of who is left, and though Byph knows precisely where he is down the tunnel, he has no idea how to even guess how many initiates would fit in it behind him.

But finally Yolandi, who had followed behind him, taps against his ankle and whispers, “ _We_ _’re all in_ ,” and the painful tension rushes from Byph with a sigh of relief.

Bits of plaster rain down on their heads as another blast shakes, and Byph can only hope nobody heard the chain of gasps and muffled cries coming from within the walls. The roar is close enough that it could well have been from the Initiate Hall, but Byph is having trouble estimating where all the violent sounds are coming from.

Eventually, Byph stops moving. Even the last of them should be a ways into the tunnel by now, and Byph can see the small glimmer of light ahead that means they’re approaching the next access point. They’re all as safe as they can be- as safe as Byph can get them. With no easy reach from here to any exit passage, this is the most any of these children can do for now.

Slowly, painstakingly, Byph shuffles in place and turns around to face Yolandi in the dark.

“This place should be safe.” Byph whispers to her. “The exit ahead leads to the tropical research garden. It exits under the second-tallest tree, in the roots. On the opposite wall, about halfway down behind the pink and yellow flower bushes behind the lake, there is another tunnel. If you go down that tunnel to the left without taking any turns, it should lead you out to the back of the Temple speeder garage. The tropical garden is dense, so as long as you wait and watch until nobody is in sight, you should be able to get between the tunnels without being caught.”

“Byph, I don’t understand.” Yolandi whispers back. “I can’t remember all that, what if I forget something? Why do I need to remember all that? Won’t you be taking us there?”

She is asking him these questions, but her voice is strained and quivering, like she knows the answers already.

“No.” Byph whispers. “I need to go. Before they find the others too.”

From the darkness, Yolandi’s hand grabs his and squeezes tight enough to hurt. “It’s too dangerous!” She hisses. “Can’t you hear it? Can’t you- can’t you _feel_ it?” Her voice cracks. “ _They_ _’re killing us, Byph_.”

Their hands shake together, and Byph knows it’s not all Yolandi.

He knows.

He _can feel it_.

The glow of the Temple is flickering, sputtering with each blaster shot, flinching with each explosion, shuddering in the aftermath.

Byph has felt death, but never the death of his _family_.

Byph wants to stay here with Yolandi, where he has the best chance of not being shot or exploded or otherwise killed horribly.

Byph wants to stay here in the dark, in the tunnels, where he knows he’s safe, because he’s always been safe here.

Byph wants to scramble out of this passage, sprint to the next crawlspace, and run until he is out of the Temple, and then just keep running and running until he can no longer feel death in the very air he breaths, nipping at his heels, crying out his name.

But Byph is not just Byph.

Byph is a jedi.

Byph has faced the haunting jaws of fear, and he has plunged his fist inside them.

Every jedi has their own battle to fight. Ilum taught him this. Each and every one of them is broken, and each and every one of them is made whole. All they have to do is find the strength to reach out with open arms.

“Keep them safe.” Byph whispers to Yolandi. “They need you. But I am needed elsewhere. Goodbye Yolandi.”

Her hand grabs his tighter, shaking it.

“Okay. Okay. Okay.” She murmurs. Then, firmly, “May the Force be with you, Byph.”

Slowly she lets him go, but Byph takes one last moment to grab her back. “May the Force be with you as well, Yolandi.”

Then Byph turns away and crawls towards the light.

**Author's Note:**

> And then Byph saved a bunch of other initiates, and even some padawans and knights, and escaped to live a long and exciting life, in which he eventually tracked down every one of his clanmates (all of whom also survived) and helped preserve and later revive the jedi order. The End.
> 
> I refuse to accept any other possibility.
> 
> (I also have vague ideas of what all of the clan is up to post 66. If I can ever get any of it coalesced into actual fic, I'll make this into a series. No promises though. Force knows I'm having enough trouble actually finishing Call Waiting...)


End file.
